New York [US], September 25: President Donald Trump urged countries to leave the International Criminal Court immediately, calling it "evil" and "a rogue institution," but only Naoero, a tiny Pacific island nation formerly known as Nauru, has followed suit during the UN General Assembly this week.
Trump's appeal on Tuesday capped an escalating US campaign against the Hague-based court, which Washington says oversteps its authority by claiming jurisdiction over citizens of countries, including the United States and Israel, that have not ratified its founding treaty known as the Rome Statute.
While a handful of countries have moved to leave the ICC, many governments, particularly in Europe, have rallied to defend it as a cornerstone of international justice.
Parties to the statute include 125 countries.
The US has imposed financial sanctions and visa bans on court staff, and officials have prepared sanctions that could undercut the court's ability to operate, sources familiar with the matter said.
Trump has said the campaign is aimed at protecting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, against whom the ICC issued arrest warrants in 2024 alongside his then-defense minister and a Hamas military commander over the Gaza war.
Since Rubio announced the campaign, Venezuela and Chad have announced plans to withdraw from the court. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announced their exits the previous year, denouncing the court as an instrument of "neocolonial repression."
Naoero President David Adeang said in his speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday he would formally withdraw his country from the Rome Statute due to the ICC's "increasing irrelevance."
"Naoero joins a growing number of nations standing up for their sovereignty against the ICC's illegitimate overreach," US Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Affairs Michael DeSombre said on X after meeting the island nation's deputy foreign minister.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
